Diary of a Teenage Psychic
by The Charming Charizard
Summary: When he left for his journey, Isaac Lavoie though it would be all sun, fun, and friends. Boy, was he wrong. But he never thought he'd have to deal with anarchists, swarms, and so much paperwork. Of course, it would help if he could just get these voices out of his head...
1. Chapter 1 - A Late Start

_"Well, of course I stand by my decision dear. Why would I have made it otherwise? Je ne regrette rien. I firmly believe that by raising the age requirement of the Trainer Licensing Test from 10 to 16, we will be giving our future trainers, coordinators, and breeders an extraordinarily higher chance of survival out there in the wild, and it will undoubtedly cut down on trainer-on-trainer crime rate by reducing the age gap and cutting out an unfortunately inexperienced and naïve group. Look at Unova, for example, they have a greatly advanced training climate, and they are unable to get their license until the age of 15! C'est la vérité! So what could possibly be the downside?" _

_- Kalos Region Champion Diantha, in response to an interviewer who asked about her change of the classic pokémon licensing age. May 28, 1987 _

* * *

When the day came for his trainer's license test, Isaac Lavoie was more than ready.

He woke up wrapped in his favorite green blanket, with Mars, the family growlithe, snuggled close beside him like a little personal heater. When he looked over to his alarm clock in the early morning light, he saw it was 5:55. Two hours until his trainer's test. Two hours until he started what he hoped would be the greatest day yet in his short, 16 year old life.

He got up, carefully avoiding Mars so as not to disturb him, and made his way to the bathroom to get ready. After a quick shower, he threw on a practical pair of jeans, a gray button down shirt, and his nicest pair of black gym shoes. He wanted to impress to proctors and Kalosian Breeders Council, but he also wasn't about to sacrifice comfort when he had to go out on a route, even a route as short and mild as Route 1.

Now came the ugly part. He crept carefully back to his room and peeked in to see if by some miracle Mars had woken up on his own yet. Of course, no such luck. But Isaac had places to be today, and couldn't afford to accommodate a lazy pet now of all times. He quickly strode over to the bed and promptly picked the pokémon up and plopped him down on the ground. His response was a growl and a half-hearted ember attack that sent Isaac stumbling backwards towards his window, quietly cursing.

"Arceus _damn_ you, Mars! How many times do I have to tell you? You do _not_ ember people just because you're grumpy!" To which, of course, he gave a derisive snort. Arceus, he was _spoiled_. But Isaac didn't have time for this, and had already lost a precious few minutes from Mars' little temper tantrum. The walk to Aquacorde was nearly an hour, and he couldn't afford to be late. Unfortunately, he also needed Mars to come with him, just to be safe.

So, Isaac decided to compromise, and quietly made his way down the stairs, towards the kitchen. He grabbed an apple for himself, and began searching for the pet treats. When at last he emerged from the pantry victorious, he dashed back up to his room, only to find that the persistent little growlithe had gone back to sleep. Of course, that all changed when Isaac gave the slightest shake of the treat box. Mars' head snapped up immediately in rapt attention, and he proceeded to dive straight at Isaac in an attempt to steal the entire box away.

"Yeah, I bet you would eat the whole box, like the fat little sausage you are!" Isaac murmured, chuckling, as the rejuvenated pokémon sat on his chest happily chewing on a treat.

"Shouldn't you be on your way by now, young man?" Isaac whipped his head around to see his mother and father standing in the hall behind him. He twisted his torso so that he could catch a glimpse of his alarm clock in his room-

_7:05. _

_Shit. _

Isaac jumped to his feet, panicked. How had he let over an hour get away from him? He rushed back into his room, grabbed his backpack, and randomly threw in a jacket, a potion, and some crumpled dollar bills. He then hurriedly gave his father a hug and gave his mother a kiss on the cheek before she pulled him in for a hug.

"Good luck Isaac, I know you'll do great," she whispered before letting him go.

"Now get going! You're going to be late if you don't hurry!" And like that, he bolted out the door, Mars close at his heels. He passed a few other late-risers in the streets, but he assumed most of his small school was already making the trek to Aquacorde. He quickly made it to the Vaniville gates, and with a push, opened them up and dashed onto the cobblestone path of Route 1.

He was on his way.

* * *

Hey, so hopefully this will be the first and last author's note for this story- so here it is!

Now I realize that this chapter is short and probably fairly dull, but don't worry, it'll pick up soon enough, although chapter length may vary. In any case, the fact is this story will be long, it'll be strange, and it'll have a lot of evidence of my own original take of the pokémon world! So I hope you enjoy!


	2. Chapter 2 - A Day for Questions

"Hey, no fair! You can't use Mars to get away!"

For the second time that afternoon, Isaac had yelled for Mars to block the shorter and less athletically inclined Marie, while he dashed away to hide behind a tree.

"It's not my fault you don't have a pokémon of your own, Mar-Mar," he sneered back from the safety of his tree.

"He's not even _yours, _eye sack," she retorted. "Your _dad _just lets you _borrow _him!"

"I told you not to call me that!" he yelled, finally emerging from his hiding place. Marie then broke into a wide smirk; she knew she had already won. She might have been the weaker of the two physically, but she had almost ten times the brain power.

"Call you _what_, eye-sack?"

"Stop it!"

"Eye-sack, Eye-Sack," she jeered at him. As he threw himself forward, she tagged him squarely in the chest, laughing. "Gotcha!" she cheered, as they rolled forward together in the grass off to the side of the route.

"You two play nice over there!" called one of their mothers.

"Arc, arcaaa," barked his parents' Arcanine disapprovingly. But he didn't care, they were rolling in the grass, giggling and tugging at each other. They just kept rolling along- right into a girl who had been quietly reading at the edge of the grass, causing all three of them to roll over onto the substantially harder cobblestone path.

Almost immediately, their mothers were at the scene, picking them up and dusting them off, wiping away tears while quietly reprimanding them. Sometime during the whole mess, the other girl's parents had appeared and picked her up, checking her over for any cuts or bruises.

"How many times do I have to tell you Isaac? No rough-housing," his mother scolded. "I'm so sorry," she offered to the parents of the unfortunate victim, "I try and tell him to be careful, but he just doesn't seem to listen," she said, with a withering look in his direction.

"Oh it's fine," said the girl's father with a small chuckle. "No harm, no foul."

"I don't think we've seen you around here before," Marie's mother grunted, trying in vain to straighten out her daughter's new dress. "Did you recently move here?"

"Oh, uh, that's right! I guess we haven't introduced ourselves," the man said, turning a bit red in the face. "I'm John, this is my wife Tara, and this young lady here is Eileen," he said, pulling the girl and woman- Eileen and Tara- in. "We're the Martins! We just moved to Aquacorde from Sinnoh. Got relocated here 'cause of my job with the Valley Windworks. Scouting locations for future plants and all that."

"Well, I am Angela Gambrell, and this is my daughter Marie," said Mrs. Gambrell.

"And I am Charlene Lavoie; this is my son Isaac," his mother muttered, while trying to wrangle her son back into her arms. "Anyways, _bonjour et bienvenue_. We wish you the best of luck." she said graciously. But Isaac had quickly grown bored with this conversation and these boring people- he wanted to _play_. Sensing that she was losing her son's attention, his mother set him down, but angled him toward the new little girl. "Now, what do you say to this young lady, mister?" Isaac shuffled his feet and kept his eyes on the ground until he couldn't bear waiting any longer, he just wanted to _leave_.

"I'm sorry I knocked you over, okay? Okay? Can I go now?" he said, as Mr. Martin gently sat his daughter down on the ground.

"Now what do you say, Eileen?" prompted her father, but Eileen didn't say a single word. Not even as she walked straight up to Isaac, locked eyes with him, and pushed him straight to the ground herself.

Isaac played with Marie and Eileen nearly every day after that.

* * *

Isaac was _so _late. He came to a stop, panting, and pulled his battered cell phone out of his pocket.

_7:50_.

_Shitshitshit_.

But there was hope yet. After 45 minutes of frantic running, the Aquacorde Town gates were finally in sight. He got himself to start up a steady jog, and finally pushed through into the town. It was still as beautiful as ever. From the terrace he stood on, he could see the next terrace down with all of the apartments and cafes, the terrace after that, with a beautiful fountain surrounded by a variety of shops and homes, and the river further beyond that. Honestly, he had always been jealous of Eileen for being able to live here, though it was just as clustered as Vaniville and not much larger.

Luckily, though, he did remember where the city building was, so as long as some terrible disaster didn't strike, he could still make it in time for his test. He had to return his pathetic excuse of a pet halfway through Route 1, though, which left him to navigate the city alone. He quickly ran forward down the steps and through the city's central causeway, eventually taking a left and following the railing on the edge of the terrace to stay out of the mess of back alleys and side streets. Eventually, he came upon the old building with its tall steeple, and stepped inside just as the bells rang out above him. By no small miracle, he had made it.

He took a minute to examine the room around him- on any other day it would probably be a simple reception room, but today it was packed to the absolute brim. Every bench lining the room was filled with people, and dozens of others were standing. Unfortunately, he couldn't say he knew very many of them- only about quarter of the other teenagers here were from Vaniville too; their trainer classes had always been so small that they combined with the Aquacorde classes for national testing. He tried wading through the thick crowd to find his friends, muttering polite excuses as he pushed past others. Eventually, when he was about to give up all hope of seeing them before the test, he felt a light touch on his shoulder, and whirled around to find someone he _did _know behind him.

Isaac could've hugged David right then.

"You were almost late." Of course, he'd have to start the conversation out that way. But before Isaac even had a chance to respond, David quickly spun him around and gently nudged him towards the corner of the room opposite from that which he'd been heading in. After just a moment of moving forward, he was able to make out two girls sitting there, one with red hair and the other with brown. As he came into sight, the red head stood up and sauntered over, with a huge smirk on her face.

"Well, well, well. Look who decided to show up. You know we thought we would be going on our journeys without you," said Eileen. Isaac just rolled his eyes and pushed her aside, taking her seat on the bench next to Marie.

"How long have you guys been here, Mar?" he asked.

"Don't worry, we only ended up here a few minutes before you," said Marie soothingly. "David and I were planning on finding some way to stall the proctors until you arrived." Isaac smiled at that. Whatever they might say, he knew he could rely on his friends. "Oh! I almost forgot!" said Marie, leaning into Isaac to whisper, her eyes wide. "Deidra stopped by earlier! She said-" but Isaac didn't find out what Deidra had said, because one of the proctors had stepped into the room, and everyone waited with rapt attention for the woman to make her announcement.

"Good morning, all!" she said yelled. "I am the Head Proctor of Central Kalos, Lisa Bellefrey. You all know why we're here! So, let's head to the testing rooms and see who our future trainers are!" With that, she made her way to a set of double doors opposite from the entrance, and motioned for everyone to follow her. Slowly, everyone sifted into their assigned rooms and sat at one of the tables set up. Eventually, the woman- Proctor Bellefrey- made her way into Isaac's testing room.

"Alright, everyone, you all know the rules by now. No eating, no drinking, and no talking," she said as she passed out the booklets. "Once you finish, you'll have to wait quietly until time is called, and _please_ refrain from using your phones, holo-casters, pokénavs, pokégear, xtransceivers, or _whatever_ devices you kids use these days. After the test, anyone who has requested an audience with the Breeder's Council will have to return to the reception area for further instructions, otherwise you will be dismissed."

She sighed and stood at the front of the room, finished passing out tests. "Well then, I hope you all do wonderfully. _Bonne chance_, you may begin."

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Isaac finally breathed a sigh of relief as he sat down once more on the bench in the reception room. The test had been about as hard as he expected, but he had at least been able to figure most of it out.

"Well that was pretty simple, don't you think?" Marie said sat down beside him, primly crossing her ankles and smoothing her skirt.

"Shut up, Marie." The last thing Isaac needed was a reminder that even in training he seemed to be one step behind her.

"You did fine, Isaac. We all know that," David insisted as he took his seat beside them. "Besides, even if you didn't do well on the actual test, your audience with the council could easily balance that out." He, of course, was right. The council was always sympathetic to anyone who would undergo a session with them.

"Well I suppose I'll be seeing you all later. Good luck with your little meeting," Eileen sneered at them as she passed by with a group from Aquacorde. "Gimme a call whenever you get done, we can grab lunch afterwards."

"Wait, Eileen, don't you have an appointment? I thought your parents didn't want to spend the money for a private breeder," Isaac quickly questioned.

"They don't, but I'm also not bothering with a bunch of people who think they know something about me. That's why I requested express permission from Professor Sycamore and Professor Rowan to use a Sinnoh starter for my journey, since my family is from there. As soon as the results of my test come in, Rowan will be sending one my way," She flippantly replied. Isaac had to say, it was always impressive the way she took initiative. Just as she walked away, somebody from Vaniville went past, making for the door.

"Wait, Micah, don't tell me you're going too?" David gaped at him.

"Yeah. My parents are getting me a pichu from a breeder. I'm only interested in electric types, and wild electric types are too difficult to start with," he retorted, not even pausing on his way to the door. Marie made an annoyed sound and shifted in her seat, while Isaac just rolled his eyes. Micah had never been much of a conversationalist. He also didn't think much of etiquette, which certainly didn't help Marie's opinion of him. Which reminded him-

"Marie! What were you going to say about Deidra earlier?"

Marie screwed up her face at the question, but answered anyway. "She was waiting outside for you to get here, of course. When we arrived before you, she naturally claimed she was here to wish _all _of us good luck, but it was obvious that she wasn't interested in how we did. She asked us to have you call her once you were completely finished." Isaac sighed at that. Deidra had always treated him like the little brother she never had, so even when she left for her journey two years ago, she called him at least once a week to check up and visited whenever she could. Unfortunately, she was also the polar opposite of Marie. He had given up long ago on trying to help them reconcile their differences, but he still wished they could at least be civil.

"Thanks, Marie. I'll make sure to mention that you passed along the message."

"Oh, well thank goodness; you know I hope for nothing more than Dee's approval. Maybe I'll finally get some sleep tonight knowing that for a single shining moment, she felt something other than contempt for me."

"Mar, please…"

But Marie couldn't respond. Once more, Proctor Bellefrey came sweeping into the room.

"Listen now, everyone. All of the council has arrived, and so we'll be taking you one by one back in the city council's room for our meeting. We'll be going alphabetically, and I will come get you when we're ready. Okay? So, first up we have… Anita Archer!" At the sound of her name, the nervous girl from Isaac's class stood up. Proctor Bellefrey gave a reassuring smile and led her through the double doors, already scribbling down notes on her clipboard.

With the distraction over, Marie and Isaac were left to sit in terse silence.

"You're both being stupid." And just like that, David brought them all back. So, after mumbled apologies, they all sat in slightly less awkward silence. Isaac was reduced to watching the clock tick away as person after person was called in for their appointment.

"David Bellamy?"

Isaac looked up and saw the proctor standing in the doorway, staring expectantly at the group. David smoothly got up, giving a quick smile to Isaac. He then pushed his way through the double doors, not even sparing a glance at the proctor (which she apparently didn't appreciate, judging by the ferocity with which she began scribbling on her clipboard).

Unfortunately, this left Isaac with a very unhappy Marie. He sat there for what felt like forever, trying to come up with a safe topic of conversation that he could recover with.

"So… what are you hoping for? You know, for a starter?"

Marie squinted her eyes at him for the random question, but he didn't mind. As far as he knew, it was a neutral topic, and he was genuinely interested in her answer. Isaac and Marie had often talked about going on their journeys, but they had never really mentioned how they thought their teams would be like.

"I don't know. I feel like maybe something simple, but effective- one of the basic types. Maybe that would be best."

"Really?" Isaac questioned. "I mean, I just always figured that since you were so smart, you'd probably start out with something like a psychic, or maybe even a dragon…"

Marie gave him a look of pure horror at the very suggestion, but quickly softened her expression.

"I don't think so. I mean, it's just that it takes so much strength to raise a psychic, and a dragon… well; you've heard the horror stories. One day, a cute little friend; the next day, you're for dinner. No, thank you."

Isaac mused on that. Everybody aspired to train a psychic or dragon- one of the more "advanced" types- but naturally not everyone could handle them.

_Would I be able to train one?_

"Marie Gambrell?"

Isaac's thoughts were interrupted once again as Marie stood up walk back with the proctor. Before she could go, though, Isaac stood up and grabbed her in the tightest bear hug he could manage.

"You'll do awesome, Mar." Isaac whispered. Marie returned the hug after a second of shock, then quickly disengaged and walked past the proctor, who was again already scribbling down notes. Except this time, she was staring directly at Isaac, not Marie. But the moment passed, and she turned and followed Marie back to the examination room.

With nothing else to do, Isaac sat down and resumed his thoughts.

He did have to admit, the prospect of working with one of advanced types scared him a bit. Psychics, while more or less the most loyal, were of course also notoriously difficult to earn the respect of. Who could blame them, though? When you were near omnipotent, why would you take orders from some newbie trainer?

Not to mention psychics weren't the only ones- all of the "Big Four" types- psychics, dragons, ghosts, and dark types- were known for their attitude problems.

He didn't know what exactly he was looking for in a starter, but he knew he wanted something loyal and hard-working, something that would _listen_. Unfortunately, so many different pokémon fit under that category that it really didn't help much at all. One thing he knew he wasn't worried about though was strength. Strength could be developed; laziness was near impossible to work with.

_But does that rule out the Big Four types?_

Isaac was tired of thinking so seriously, though. He instead started to think about what starters he would give each of his friends until Proctor Bellefrey called his name.

"Isaac Lavoie?"

Shaken from his thoughts, it took Isaac a minute to realize it was finally _his_ name being called. He shakily got up, and started for the double doors. He gave a small smile to the proctor as he passed by her, and pushed through the double doors. He paused in the hallway to wait for the proctor, unsure of where to go. She skirted past him, heading straight forward.

"So, I'm assuming that you and Miss Gambrell are close, Isaac?"

Isaac whipped his head around to look at the proctor in amazement at her question- he never thought of them asking such unofficial questions.

"Yeah, we've known each other for years. We grew up in Vaniville together. She's a good friend, and I think she'll be an even better trainer."

It certainly couldn't hurt to put in a good word for her, even after that fact. But Proctor Bellefrey just scribbled down some note on her clipboard, pressing her lips together. They finally reached the end of the hall, with another set of double doors waiting for them. She swung them open, leading Isaac into a room flooded with natural light from tall windows, and what looked like an elongated Judge's bench situated against the opposite wall. She directed him to a chair in front of the bench, and then briskly walked to take her place on the bench, directly in the middle of ten or so other people.

Although she was seated at the center, she still wasn't the center of attention. What captured Isaac's was a woman sitting at the far right end, wearing one of the most bizarre outfits he'd ever seen. She wore a long, skin-tight black dress, which was totally normal, but completely offset by her huge cape, which was covered in galaxy patterns and billowed of its accord. He realized with a bit of shock that she, too, was intently staring at him, also seemingly lost in her own thoughts.

Isaac heard a small cough, and turned his head back towards Proctor Bellefrey, who was looking between him and the woman in utter annoyance.

"Now, Mr. Lavoie, as you realize, we are the Kalosian Breeders' Council. Do you know why we are here today?"

Isaac didn't have to dig deep for an answer to that.

"You're here today because I asked for an appointment so you could assess my potential as a trainer and supplement the results of my exam. And, as a result, to assign a starter pokémon to me as you see fit." Isaac said, trying to sound as official as possible.

"That is correct. We are simply a group of breeders and trainers who want to help you out. So, I suppose it would only be appropriate to introduce you to our guest star for the day- Olympia, of the Anistar Gym."

She went on talking about formalities and rules, but all Isaac got out of her spiel was that he could now unashamedly stare back at Olympia, whose gaze had not wavered since he entered the room.

Once more, however, Proctor Bellefrey gave a cough (a little bit more forceful than last time), more irritated by now.

"Well, I suppose we better get this show on the road, shouldn't we, Mr. Lavoie?"

But Isaac could only grin sheepishly back at her cold stare.

"So, Mr. Lavoie, what field do you wish to go into, and why?"

"Just training. Both of my parents and two of my grandparents were trainers, so it kind of runs in the family. Plus, I want to go out and experience the world, you know, get out of Vaniville."

"So you're not interested in breeding or coordinating?"

"Not particularly. I think breeding is important, but I don't really have the patience, and coordinating just seems, well, _frivolous_, to me." Isaac was happy with his response; he had managed to use one of those crazy words Marie preferred.

"What about pokémon? Do you wish to learn more about them, or train many types?"

"Well, yeah, I want to learn more about them, but having a lot of them doesn't matter to me. I'd probably only train a few, to develop as strong a bond as possible."

Olympia smiled at that, but Proctor Bellefrey didn't even glance up from her papers. It went on like that for a little while, the proctor asking questions, Isaac replying, and all the other council members reacting except for the proctor. Overall, this was going much better than the written portion.

"So, Mr. Lavoie. You've talked a lot about creating a bond with your pokémon and building trust, but let me ask you this: say you were attacked out there, in the wild- by a swarm, a poacher, another trainer, anything which would put you in mortal danger. If your pokémon was in danger, or on the verge of death, would you do anything to save that pokémon?"

His answer was immediate. "Yes."

"Would you even give your life?"

The other council members squirmed and glared at the question, but Proctor Bellefrey looked him smugly in the eye, obviously expecting an answer in the negative. Honestly, _he _was expecting himself to answer in the negative. But the more he sat there and thought about it, the more selfish it seemed to. His pokémon would put themselves out there in the line of fire for him, so why wouldn't he do the same for them?

"Yes… I think I would."

Just as Bellefrey opened her mouth to respond, Olympia cut in, speaking for the first time.

"What he is says is true. I see selflessness in this boy's heart. His future is bright."

They all sat there in silence, shocked at the statement. Olympia was smiling, Bellefrey was glaring, and Isaac was panicking.

_Selfless?_

Isaac considered himself a lot of things, but selfless wasn't one of them. He forgot to get gifts for his friends' birthdays, he took the last cookie from a box but left the box in the pantry, for Arceus' sake, he ignored the sidewalk santas during the holiday season!

_How can she even tell if I'm being truthful?_

"I am able to see truth in you young man because I am a psychic trainer. My telepathy allows me to tell whether you are lying or not. Unlike others today, you have not lied once," Olympia assured him, although the idea that she was reading his mind was less than reassuring. Isaac looked to the proctor to get them back on track. However, she seemed to have had enough of being interrupted and simply sat there waiting for someone else to finish things. Olympia, seeming to sense the tension, continued. "One last question, to decide your fate. Have you any preference in pokémon? Any type or species you aspire for?"

Isaac sucked in a breath. Here came the moment of truth.

"No… I don't think so. I think that… that you all will know best. I think it doesn't matter what pokémon you have- you can both grow and become stronger."

Olympia smiled once more at him, while Proctor Bellefrey outright sneered at this point.

"Thank you, dear boy. You have done well. If you do not mind, I will escort you out now." Olympia suddenly disappeared from her seat, but the reappeared beside Isaac, making him jump back from shock. But Olympia only offered her hand to help him up. He took it, and suddenly the examination room disappeared around them. Next thing he knew, they were standing on one of Aquacorde's terraces. Looking around, he realized they were outside of Marie's favorite café. Isaac thought he was going to throw up.

"What-" he wheezed to her, "what was that?" He felt like his entire body had been scrambled.

She looked at him regretfully. "I'm sorry. I've forgotten my manners. I've been teleporting everyone out of the examination room as they have finished. That is why you haven't seen them. Unfortunately, it can be difficult for those new to it. When I made my way here this morning, though, I found this café to be of excellent quality. You should eat. I realize that was stressful for you." Olympia finally let go of Isaac's hand, stepping away from him. "You tried very hard to be truthful. It was impressive. I cannot wait until you come to my gym. It shall be a battle for the ages." And with that, Olympia disappeared again.

Isaac never even got the chance to ask her if that meant he had passed his exam.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

"Wow, it sounds like Bellefrey is just as much of bitch now as she was then."

Isaac sighed at Deidra as he transferred his phone to his other ear while fixing Mars' dinner.

"Don't say that, Dee. That's not really an appropriate thing to call the Head Proctor," he commented.

"As if I care. If the shoe fits, Isaac, you better fucking wear it. It's the same story every year: everyone thinks she so sweet and nice, until they actually spend more than a few minutes around her. Didn't I ever tell you what she said to me on my testing day?" she snarled at him.

"Yes, you actually did, Dee."

"She told me, to my _face_, that I would never amount to anything, because I had an _attitude_! I mean can you believe that?"

_Yes, I can, _he thought to himself. But he would never say that to her.

"I'm just lucky Wulfric was the gym leader representative that year, otherwise, well, you know."

Isaac understood.

"Yeah, I was lucky to have Olympia there. She kind of kept the peace. I feel like Bellefrey kind of scared the other council members…" Honestly, she had scared him, too, but he would never admit that. The last thing he needed was to add fuel to Dee's fire.

"Well, you know she used to be a big shot trainer. That's probably why she acts like she's tough shit or something."

Isaac nearly dropped the food bowl (much to Mars' excitement) from the shock. He carefully set the bowl down in his kitchen before replying to her.

"She used to be a trainer?"

"Yeah," Dee drawled, clearly less than willing to continue with the subject. "She was a real big deal. A type specialist, too. Water, I think. She wanted to be an elite four, but Siebold beat her out, and then she was denied a gym. Probably why she's such a bitch; she's bitter that all she was able to become was a glorified babysitter."

Isaac felt bad for her then. That really did suck, to lose such an exciting life for such a boring one. The Bureau of Trainer Reintegration tried hard… but he doubted that anything could compare to such a life of unparalleled freedom.

"So you think it went well?" Deidra asked, snapping Isaac from his thoughts.

"Yeah, I think it went well enough. I just hope the results come in soon," he replied.

"Don't hold your breath, kiddo. It'll be a few weeks. Anyways, how did you answer the big question? If you'd prefer any one pokémon?" Dee excitedly asked.

All Isaac could do was sigh. He knew that question had been coming, but he felt like a total dork for what he said.

"I said that I didn't think so, because they probably knew best, and I thought all pokémon had the ability to be strong."

Isaac waited for the inevitable snicker or snide comment on the other end of the line, but it didn't come.

"I'm so proud of you Isaac."

And then she hung up. That was all. Isaac had gotten use to a lot of things when it came to Deidra, but such explicit praise was not one such thing. So, Isaac resigned to not knowing what the hell went on in other people's heads, picked up Mars, and went to snuggle with him in bed. He'd had quite enough to do with people that day.


	3. Chapter 3 - A New Friend

_"Oh yes, I remember the day that I received my starter very well- c'était merveilleux! The nurse of the Couriway pokémon center and head proctor of Mountain Kalos told me I should just wait until summer to leave, since it was so cold and rainy that spring. But I had just been given a gible! A beautiful, exotic dragon! So I said 'screw that' and marched right out into the storm. Ha, it's obvious now that they were right, but I was young; I thought I was invincible. When I ended up stuck in the Snowbelle City center with pneumonia two weeks later, I didn't regret a thing."_

_ -Professor Augustine Sycamore, describing his experiences as a trainer to an interviewer, November 10, 2006_

* * *

Isaac sat excitedly on the same bench in the city building as he did on the day of the exam.

_It's happening,_ he thought. _I'm finally going to get my starter._

He pulled the letter out of his pocket, reading it over for the millionth time.

_Dear Mr. Lavoie, _

_We, the Trainer Assessment Agency and Kalosian Breeders Council, are pleased to inform you that you have passed the trainer licensing examination and a starter pokémon has been chosen for you. You are to report to the location where your examination took place on April 12 at 11:30 AM so as to receive your starter and other important items for your journey. We hope to see you then. _

_Sincerely, _

_Lisa Bellefrey _

_Head Proctor, Central Kalos_

Now that he was here, though, he was terrified. Sure, he would accept any pokémon they gave him; their decision could hardly be considered invalid, and he meant it when he said any pokémon could be strong. But what if he got a wooper, or a ratatta, or a _bidoof_? He would love them and raise them as best as he could, but how could he make a serious start as a trainer with a pokémon like that? Where would he go from there?

At that moment, a tall, graceful woman in a lab coat came out with another new trainer, offering last minute advice. "-and don't ever, ever, forget to use the pokémon center, young lady. Your pokémon are your partners- when you are out on a route, you are nothing without them. But most of all, experience everything you can," the woman finished. With a big smile, the girl nodded her head and ran out.

"It's wonderful, isn't it," said the woman, leaning in the doorway, and watching the girl's figure shrink in the distance. "I love starting all these people on their journeys. Seeing their entire world open up for them in the instant where you hand that pokéball to them, well, there's just this _je ne sais quoi_. It's beautiful."

The woman finally turned to look at Isaac and smiled at him, pushing a lock of silver hair behind her ear.

"Well then, you are Mr. Lavoie, correct? The 11:30 appointment?" Isaac nodded his head at her, surprised by the tenderness with which she spoke. When he stood up, she laid her hand on his shoulder, guiding him towards the double doors, then to a door on the right side of the hallway, which led to a small office. He shuddered as he felt the stare of Proctor Bellefrey on him once more.

"Welcome back, Mr. Lavoie, and congratulations," she intoned. "You will soon officially become a trainer, but unfortunately, before that, you have a few forms to fill out," she said, pulling out a pile of papers from the desk drawers.

"What?" He asked, disbelief evident in his face. She smirked at his confusion.

"Didn't you know, young man? You don't get to just run off into the wild with your pokémon and hide away; to create a safe training environment, the government must keep tabs on everybody. While we have recorded the information for your starter, we have little to no information in you."

At that, Isaac began flipping through the forms. _Full name, parents' names, address, race, height, weight, eye color, liability..._ The pile was just pages and pages of personal information. She kept talking as he tried to fill it out.

"Of course, as you continue to train, we'll need information on the pokémon you catch as well, to determine danger and help keep an accurate record in case one would need to find you. But don't worry, as long as you keep your identification on you and stop at a pokémon center regularly, that won't be a problem at all." She watched him struggle trying sign the bottom of a form in cursive before continuing.

"Now then, I suppose you'll want to actually meet your starter..." Ignoring his hopeful expression, Proctor Bellefrey dug through the desk again, pulling out a minimized red and white ball. Just as she moved to toss it to release the pokémon within, the gray haired woman deftly snatched the pokéball from Bellefrey, and held up her hand to silence her before she could protest.

"Thank you, Proctor," she began, clearly asserting herself over Bellefrey, "but I'm afraid this part is more the business of the Professor Sycamore and I than the TAA. Don't worry, though, you have done wonderfully so far," she finished with a sly smile. "In any case, Mr. Lavoie, I am Doctor Victoire Lesage. I am here on behalf of Professor Sycamore so that you may receive your starter, and go out into the training world with some basic knowledge." She clicked the button once, maximizing the ball, before holding it out to him. "Would you care to do the honors?"

Isaac reached towards the ball with a shaking hand, grabbing it, and then tossed it in the air. With a flash of light, it opened and came back to him. Left standing in front of him was a small, white creature with what looked like a green helmet and pink horns.

_"Rallll? Ralts?"_ It seemed to ask the room. Isaac was shocked.

"A-A ralts?" he asked, not knowing what could have possibly gotten him this sort of honor.

"Yes, Mr. Lavoie, a ralts. The council was very impressed by your warm and loyal nature. You also seemed more or less sensible, and so a potentially strong pokémon, like a ralts, would naturally be drawn to such warm feelings while also having someone to temper its psychic powers." She smiled again as Isaac picked the small creature up, set it down in his lap, and began running his hands over its head.

"Ralts and its evolutions are very loyal, you know. There are dozens of stories out there of how they have given their lives to save their trainer's; most of them have a very intense love for their trainer all their life. Should any harm come to their trainer, they often go out and eliminate the perpetrator like an avenging angel. It is truly a terrifying line at their worst."

As Isaac sat there, stroking the ralts' head, something occurred to him.

"Can I give it a name?" he asked eagerly.

"Yes, of course, dear. And for the record, your ralts is a male."

Isaac sat there, then, looking at his ralts, who had at that point turned its head to look at him.

_An avenging angel, huh? _

"Michael. I'll name him Michael." Just as he said that, there was a strong sensation that came over him. He felt dizzy, and a very strange, admittedly almost painful, prickling sensation all over his head. But the strongest part was the emotion that came after that.

_Happiness. _

All of a sudden he was overcome with a sudden, powerful glee- an almost indescribable joy. He didn't know why he felt it, or where the feeling came from, but it lasted for a minute before fading, and he was able to listen to Dr. Lesage speak again.

"-and since training a ralts can be difficult because of the rather late point at which it does learn its first attack, one was gotten that had a move bred onto it- shadow sneak, to be exact- and it was then raised until it learned confusion," she said, looking back to see if he had any questions. When he said nothing, she went to the desk, politely pushing Bellefrey aside, and brought what looked like a palm-sized red, metal square from a drawer. "This, young man, is your lifeline out there; this is your pokédex. It will provide you with information on any pokémon you encounter and it will give more in depth details of all pokémon you have caught. Not only that, but it will serve as your trainer identification, and as such will list your active team, I.D. number, picture, and number of gym badges won should you ever lose the badges themselves. Speaking of which," she said, digging through the desk a final time, "here is a case for those badges. While they don't hold much actual value, they are wonderful mementos."

After she had handed him the case, Isaac ran his fingers over the cool metal exterior and smooth velvet interior. Michael squirmed in Isaac's arms, and he allowed him to feel the case as well.

"Oh! And how could I forget, you couldn't get anywhere without these," she exclaimed as she pulled five minimized pokéballs from her lab coat pockets and handed them over, one by one. "Now then, have I forgotten anything? Proctor?" she inquired, but the proctor just sat there, stony-faced and unhelpful. "Well, I suppose our time is up. I'll show you out, Mr. Lavoie." Isaac simply nodded, tossing his case, pokédex, and pokéballs in his backpack while returning Michael. As he was getting up to leave, he felt the strange prickling sensation all over his head again, but not as strongly or painfully. The emotion that washed over him after that was less pleasant than the first, though.

_Fury. _

He turned around in surprise to see the proctor sitting there absolutely fuming. He scurried out of the room before she had a chance to say anything. He stuck close to Dr. Lesage as she led him out of the building once more, fearing that Proctor Bellefrey might actually have something to say if he stayed too long. Finally, they reached the main lobby. Isaac was ready to make a beeline straight to the door, but the older woman spoke up before he could.

"I suppose this is goodbye for now, Mr. Lavoie. I hope you know that I have great expectations for you. After all, you were one of only three trainers in Central Kalos to receive one of the 'advanced' types, if you'll pardon my use of such a basic phrase. In any case, if you ever need something, you may find Professor Sycamore and myself at the research lab in Lumiose City. I wish you the best of luck." With that, she turned on her heel to return to the office, probably to try and soothe Proctor Bellefrey. Isaac walked out of the building after standing in the empty room for moment to collect himself, deciding that it would probably be best to leave before the next future trainer arrived. He didn't want to interrupt their big day.

He found his way back to the main boulevard running through the town, and decided to sit down and orient himself. He felt like the world was spinning around him, although he couldn't tell whether it was from the excitement of getting Michael or the splitting headache that was suddenly pounding in his skull. He reached into his bag to pull out two pokéballs, figuring it was best to get introductions out of the way as soon as possible. He studied the two balls very carefully once he found them. The old, scratched premiere ball, and the new red and white one. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that they had actually put his initials on the ball. It felt so… _permanent_, so official, like a giant sign that said he really was a trainer now.

"Michael, Mars, come out!"

When he released them, the two stood quietly, sizing each other up. Before Isaac could even bother to speak, though, Michael melted into the shadows beneath the bench, leaving Isaac stunned and Mars very anxious. Isaac tried to reach out to Mars to calm him down, but once again Michael foiled him by leaping out of the shadows of a window sill above them and landing on Mars' back. From there it just degraded into a mini rodeo in the middle of the street, with Mars trying to buck Michael off.

"Stop it! Both of you!" Isaac yelled, but it was in vain, as the two began rolling around on the ground in an all-out tussle. He wondered if this was how parents felt. Suddenly, the yipping and growling stopped, and they just sort of laid there, wheezing. Another sound started as Isaac picked them up, however, and he was hit by another strange wave of emotion.

_Amusement. _

It hit him that at this point the two of them were laughing, in their own, weird, pokémon way. He couldn't believe it. He sighed and collapsed on the pavement, criss-crossing his legs and drawing his two new comrades closer.

"Yeah, yeah, very funny, you two. I hope you know you almost gave me a heart attack. Now, Mars, I want you to meet Michael, he's a teammate from now on. Michael, I want you to meet Mars, he's an old friend that'll be coming with us." Isaac watched carefully as they exchanged pokes and growls, until he was satisfied that there wouldn't be any more trouble.

"Alright you guys, before we head home, there are a few things we need to pick up down in the shops before we leave tomorrow morning, bright and early. That means you too, Mars."

Mars turned his head away from him huffily before starting the walk towards the shopping district. He didn't get far, though, before Michael hopped on his back once more and seemingly whispered something in his ear. Mars barked something eagerly in response, and took off running, straight towards a wall. Just as Isaac was going to yell to them to be careful, they disappeared into it. After a moment the terrible twosome reappeared down the street, emerging from a darkened alley and scaring some poor woman carrying a bag of groceries. Isaac began to run after them, watching with horror as they seemingly continued to pop in and out of existence, knocking people over and making a mess.

He hadn't even started his adventure yet, and he was already considering stopping while he was ahead.

_Somebody tell me this isn't how my whole journey is going be. _

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

"-but seriously guys, did I miss something? Michael, Mars, and Mako? Were we all going to use 'M' names or something and I just forgot?"

David and Isaac just laughed at Marie as they laid on their backs in Marie's front yard. Eileen had already left with the piplup she chose days before, and not only that, but when they protested her going alone, she had surprisingly admitted that she would be travelling with Micah and his pichu. Most of the town who had passed the test had in fact left already; their three appointments had been scheduled as some of the latest. So, they were left alone for one last quiet night in Vaniville before they left together in the morning.

"I guess I also missed the memo about which types we were all shooting for during the interview," Marie added in, sitting up and watching their pokémon play in the shadow of the giant oak that grew in front of her house. Her new cherubi happily hopped around with Michael as Mars wrestled with David's gible. "Didn't you know, Marie? David and I are already just that great," Isaac said, slapping David on the back as he and Marie rolled their eyes. He wouldn't mention that he was actually terrified out of his mind at the thought of both of them running around with pokémon that were effectively loaded weapons. Marie's cherubi let out another squeal of delight as she walked around the garden with Michael, and they all turned to watch them. As they sat there, Isaac felt another out-of-body wave of emotion coming on.

_Contentment. _

It felt so peaceful, he wanted to take a picture with his mind and keep it there for as long as possible, even though they all knew it couldn't last.

"I think it's time we all go to bed," Marie grunted as she pushed herself up from the ground. "If you really want us to get up as early tomorrow as you say, then we'll all need our rest. Cerise! Come on, we're going inside!" The plump little pokémon ran to her, and with a quick smile and a tender "goodnight" they both disappeared into Marie's house. David returned Mako to his pokéball, and Isaac did the same with Michael and Mars, not entirely trusting them to be out and about after all the explaining he had had to do in Aquacorde earlier that day.

They walked together down the street as the last orange bit of light clung to the horizon, and with another goodbye Isaac was left alone to make his own way home. He watched fireflies start to emerge from wherever they hid during the day, and thought about the days ahead.

He had no doubt that they'd all be capable of surviving; David had been a very talented boy scout back when they were little, and Marie had been reading up on wilderness survival for weeks now. No, Isaac was more worried about whether they'd end up killing each other than some force of nature taking them out, especially with these weird mood swings he'd been having. It was like he was feeling them, but they weren't even his. He'd wanted to tell Marie and David about them, but felt silly whenever he tried to put the sensation into words to tell them. So, he'd decided he would just have to deal with it, and that was that.

He finally reached his doorstep, and, with a big sigh to try and get rid of all his fears, he looked one last time at the sight of his hometown bathed in twilight. When he had had his fill, he opened his front door and slipped inside to prepare for the next day.


End file.
